


Moonflower

by fishebake



Category: Naruto
Genre: Canon Compliant at first, Gen, OC, SI-OC, Twins, promise that things start changing in the Wave Arc
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-25
Updated: 2018-11-29
Packaged: 2019-05-28 15:17:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15052061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fishebake/pseuds/fishebake
Summary: They say that destiny is set in stone. Most people are willing to accept this and move on - Yamanaka Inoko is not most people. Her father's life is on the line, and she knows that if she wants to keep him safe, she's going to need a seriously big sledgehammer.





	1. Dianthus Caryophyllus

I was having a lovely dream. I was on a beautiful mountainside, with one notable difference - everything was made of food. The boulders were steaming loaves of bread, and the trees grew dango and pocky. Flowers sprouted with onigiri and naruto, and taiyaki swam through the ramen broth. Mochi grew instead of grass, and I had never been happier. I could almost die of joy.

Well, die again.

I pulled up an onigiri flower and ate half of it in one bite. Moaning in pleasure, I scooped the taiyaki from the stream and shook off the excess broth before taking a bite. The taste was exquisite. 

My eyes widened as I saw the ultimate prize - a gigantic plate of sushi. Drool trickled out the corner of my mouth. The moment I touched the first piece, I knew that this was going to be the best sushi I had ever had. The fish was clearly caught the day before, if not this morning, and the rice was just the right texture. And the seaweed must have been crafted by the gods themselves, because there was no way any mortal man could reach such perfection. I moved it towards my mouth and closed my eyes. It was in the opening of my mouth, and -

“Yamanaka!” A sharp pain hit me in the forehead and smacked me into the back of my seat. I blinked a couple times as the classroom came into focus. “And Nara!” A chalkboard eraser flew through the air and smacked one of my seatmates in the forehead. Clearly a repeat of what happened to me. My other seatmate was unperturbed by the violence, content to eat his chips as the rest of the class laughed. My sister merely pinched the bridge of her nose. “I devote my time to teaching you day after day, and you repay me by sleeping all the time?!”

I blinked sleepily at Iruka-sensei, still disoriented from my dream.

“But…” I said softly. 

He sighed. “What?”

“The… the sushi… I was so close, Sensei,” I stared at him with plaintive eyes. 

His eye twitched. 

“You really are a pig girl, Inoko,” Ami smirked from her seat across the aisle. Chōji stirred beside me, munching on his chips faster. “A stupid lazy pig girl.”

“Hey, leave my baby sister alone,” Ino frowned.

“She may sleep all the time, but her grades are still high above yours, Ami,” Iruka-sensei replied shortly as he shuffled some papers on his desk. 

She flushed as Kiba loudly whispered, “Burn…”

“You are five minutes older,” I leaned forward and growled in Ino’s ear as Sensei resumed his lecture. “Stop calling me your baby sister. You know it pisses me off.” 

She merely gave me the same smile that usually got her out of trouble with Dad. “Really? I had no idea.” 

I pulled her ponytail in return. Glancing around the classroom, I leaned into Chōji and whispered, “What did I miss?”

“Not much,” he whispered back, offering me some of his chips. I gladly accepted one. “We’ve been going over our final exam. There’s a written test, and then a practical exam.”

“Joy,” I muttered. 

“I’m handing out your papers now,” our sensei announced. “When I call your name, come up and get it.” He began to list out names, and being a horrible person, I relished the looks on my fellow students as they saw their harshly graded exams. Heh. 

“Yamanaka, Ino and Inoko,” he called. Ino waved me to stay in my seat as she skipped to the front. I settled back onto my desk, still tired despite my impromptu nap.

“I just want you to know that I hate you,” my twin pouted as she handed me my paper. “Two wrong? Out of a hundred very hard questions?”

“You really think Shika would allow a complete idiot to hang out with him?” I smirked, glancing over my paper. One I had left blank because I had no idea how to solve it, and the other I used the wrong formula. Oh well. 

“Uzumaki, Naruto,” he called. Silence. “Naruto?” The entire class stared at his empty seat. A blood vessel pulsed near his temple. I had to admit, I was curious to know how this would turn out. 

At that moment, we heard Suzume-sensei scream. “ _The_ _Hokage-monument_!” The vein pulsed harder, and Sensei was doing his very best to keep a smile on his face. “Class, study chapter fourteen of your anatomy textbooks until I return.” He spun on his heel and left the room. The moment the door closed, I clearly heard him shout, “Mizuki!” I managed to keep a straight face for all of eight seconds before losing it. 

“Chōji, can you give me a boost? I wanna see what Naruto did.” Covering my eyes from the bright sun, I gave a low whistle as I beheld the graffitied heads. A small figure was hanging in front of the Yondaime and slowly creating a white stream from the nose. Figures.

I peeked back inside the classroom. Pretty much no one was studying like Iruka-sensei told them to. Sasuke was, but that was because he had ‘the Uchiha honor to uphold’. Translation: ‘I’m a stick in the mud that has no idea how to have fun’. The girls, my sister included (ew), were all huddled close to him and giggling. His usual impassive face had just a hint of suffering on it. 

“I’m getting some food,” I announced. “Anyone want to come with?” Shika groaned, but allowed himself to be pulled to the window by Chōji. Kiba gave me a suspicious look.

“Who’s paying?” he asked.

“My treat,” I rolled my eyes. 

Akamaru barked, and his partner gave me a grin. “Sounds like fun!” 

“Wait just a minute,” Ino growled. I gave her a lazy blink. “I’m not going to let you play hooky on our last day of school.”

“I’m not playing hooky,” I drawled. “I’ll be back before Sensei is.” I jumped out of the window frame, breaking out into a run the moment I touched the ground. My companions caught up pretty quickly, and we were sent off with Ino’s annoyed, “Inoko!”

“Ah, the joys of being her sister,” I sighed as we slowed a decent distance from the Academy. “Anyway, who wants what?” I ended up buying more chips for Chōji, smoked mackerel for Shika, and beef jerky for Kiba and Akamaru. I also got some pudding for Ino as a peace offering. As for myself, I bought a sushi bento. Because sushi.

“Inoko, I totally have dibs on dating you,” Kiba sighed happily.

“Dream on, dog breath,” I snorted, amused. “I only date attractive guys who have at least half of my intellect.”

“But you can’t date your reflection!” 

I glared at him for a moment before punching him.

“Ow!”

“Troublesome,” Shikamaru sighed.

Ino was fuming when we got back. The moment I passed through the window, she grabbed my ponytail and dragged me to my seat. 

“Ow ow ow ow.”

“Do you know how much trouble you could have been in if Sensei had come back first?” she snapped. She was way too much like Mother at times for my liking.

“But he didn’t, so I’m not,” I protested. “If you keep being mean to me, I won’t give you the pudding I bought.” She blinked in surprise, then frowned.

“If you think that I’m going to let you bribe me, then -”

“Chocolate,” I interrupted, waving it in front of her face. I could see her starting to waver. “From an Akimichi place, no less. But, if you don’t want it, I’ll be more than happy to eat it myself…?” I trailed off, grinning at her. The pudding disappeared from my hand.

“Just this once,” she warned. Funny, that was what she said last time. And the time before that. Heh.

Iruka-sensei came in then, with Naruto in tow. He was tied up pretty tightly, and had a determined unrepentant look on his face. Basically the same look he had whenever he got caught at his pranks. Sensei himself gave me a look as I ate another piece of sushi.  _ He knows _ , I thought while sweating a little.

“Well, Naruto, since you have completely thrown off the rest of the lesson plan for today, the entire class can practice their henge.” Everyone around me groaned. Ino smacked her forehead into her desk.

“Maa, the paint job was worth it,” I said. Naruto beamed at me. Shika looked like he wanted to elbow me, but was as always too lazy to bother.

Sasuke, the little show-off, was one of the first to go, and did a henge of Sensei. Sakura copied him, of course - I loved that girl to bits, but my god, her fangirl tendencies drove me insane - as did Ino. My eye was twitching by the time it was my turn. Just to screw with everyone, I henged as Sasuke. 

“Told you she’s in denial,” Ami smirked to her friend Kasumi. I turned to her and made the stupidest face that human muscles could create. The boys all laughed. Dropping the henge, I returned to my seat.

“Nice henge, owl,” Sasuke said sarcastically. I scowled at the nickname Ami had given me a couple years earlier. _ He thinks he’s soo clever, just because I’m awake at night. _

“Thanks,” I deadpanned. “You didn’t do too bad yourself, duck boy.” If looks could kill, I would have likely dropped dead there. Heh.

“Sexy Jutsu!” I heard behind me. Another twitch developed on my face.  _ If I’ve told him once, I’ve told him a thousand times… _

After Iruka-sensei was done yelling at him and sent him back to his seat, the rest of the day went smoothly. 

“Maa, I think that the monument was your best work yet,” I said as I packed up my things.

“I know, right?” Naruto said excitedly. “But Iruka-sensei’s making me clean it off, dattebayo.” 

I patted his shoulder sympathetically.  “I’d help, you know, but Ino and I have a meeting with the clan elders right after dinner. Graduation is tomorrow, after all.” He made a face.

“I do not envy you,” he said, making an X with his arms. I rolled my eyes.  _ He’s so dramatic. _ “Hanging out with those old coots.” 

Elbowing him and laughing, I said, “Hey! Those ‘old coots’ are my family. I’ll see you tomorrow, Naruto.”

“Bye!” he said cheerfully, but I could feel his chakra become sad after I left the room.  _ Stop it, _ I scolded myself.  _ You can’t keep him company every second of every day. You have clan things to do. _

“How was school?” Mother asked as she finalized dinner. I was setting the table as Ino served the rice.

“Not bad,” I said. “Naruto graffitied the Hokage monument, so that was fun.” Mother gave me a look. “I didn’t help this time!” I protested. “Honest, you can ask Sensei.”

“She fell asleep in the middle of Sensei’s lecture,” Ino said, raising an eyebrow.

“Inoko!”

“In my defense, I already knew it,” I said.

“That’s not a valid excuse.”

“What’s going on?” Dad asked as he came in.

“Nothing!” I said cheerfully, hugging him tightly. Dad swung me into the air.

“Whoa! I won’t be able to do that for much longer,” he grunted. To say that I was a cuddle bug and a daddy’s girl were both understatements. Mother would often tell how as a baby I only wanted to be with Dad, and could generally not care less about everyone else who wanted to hold me. 

“Which is why you should do it while you can,” I reasoned, wriggling free and dropping to the ground. “Also, do we  _ really _ have to go that meeting? They’re boring.”

“Yes, you do.” Ignoring my groan, Dad continued, “You’re both going to be full members of the clan, with all the responsibilities of a clan member. And because you’re both children of the clan head, that has a few more responsibilities tacked on at the end.”

“... I just want to be a psychologist,” I muttered. “The ninja thing is just to see if I can.”

“Dear, you may not be the heir,” Mother said, smoothing my hair.

“I’m just the backup heir,” I snorted. “But yes, I know. Dad’s the head, so I need to be able to know whose butt to kiss to make the clan happy.” Dad’s cough sounded suspiciously like a laugh. “I’m right, aren’t I? Crap.”

“Anyway, we need to eat quickly and get going,” Dad said. “Noriko, this looks delicious, thank you.”

“Itadakimasu,” I echoed Ino, and then dug in. I gave a happy sigh. I swear, my mother must have taken cooking lessons from a god. It was over all too soon, though, and then I had to get ready for the meeting. Ino changed her clothes and freshened her makeup, but I had to take a shower and everything.

“Stop picking out my clothes!” I shouted from my room once I emerged from the shower and beheld the kimono.

“It’s not  _ my _ fault you have bad fashion taste! You’d wear a t-shirt and pajama pants all the time if you could!”

“Because they’re comfortable,” I grouched, and reluctantly pulled on the kimono. They were appropriate for the occasion, but all the same, I hated them. I could barely move in them. I swear, all of her outfit choices had either too much fabric or not enough fabric. Pinning up my hair, I presented myself to my family. “Now, on to the execution,” I drawled. 

“I do wish you’d dress nicely more often,” Mother said as she straightened my obi. “You look so pretty when you put effort into your appearance.”

“Why do that when I have Ino?” I asked. “I’m before, and she’s after.”

“Very funny,” Ino said, poking me in the side. 

“Very nice,” Dad approved. “Shall we go to the slaughter?”

“See? Dad agrees with me.” 

“You’re late, Inoichi-sama,” Akio, one of the elders, said. I always got the sense that he didn’t like me, and I didn’t like him either.

“Sorry about that,” Dad shrugged, taking a seat. He gestured for us to sit on either side of him. The meeting hadn’t even started and I was already bored. My only solace was that Shikamaru and Chōji had to go through this too, and we could all complain together in the morning. “I got held up on the way over.” 

The meeting began, and I amused myself by singing songs from another time.  _ She wants to dance like Uma Thurman, bury me till I confess. _ It was all pointless things, like something some Yamanaka did last week that might causes some tiny political thing, or clan revenue.

This wasn’t even worth the time of the clan head. Honestly, there was so much more important things that I could be doing right now. I stopped singing in my head and frowned a little. 

Ino would always tease me and call me a book worm for spending all of my non sleeping time reading. However, there was method to my madness. Learning as much as I could before I graduated was necessary. Yes, I was anticipating failing the second test. But even then, I’d have the knowledge to survive when… 

My stomach turned as I thought on the future. The fourth shinobi war, that killed so many, including Yamanaka Inoichi.

I swallowed bile and focused on a knot in the wood. That was by far one of the worst things about being reincarnated: knowing who would live and who would die. And there was next to nothing I could do.

“Inoko!” I jumped a little in my seat to see everyone staring at me. “Pay attention. This is important.” I nodded sullenly and settled in for the long run.


	2. Iris Germanica

“Hello, Yoshino-san,” I said when she answered the door. “Is Shikamaru back yet?”

“I’m afraid not,” she said, opening the door wider. “He should be back soon, though. You can wait in the living room, if you want.”

“Thank you,” I nodded, making my way inside. Once I was there, I tracked down the shogi board that floated around the room and set it up.

“Most people ask before they come over,” Shikamaru said dryly as he entered.

“I have a standing invitation from your parents,” I shrugged. “Pick a side.”

He glanced at the board and said, “White.” I spun the board around in response.

“What’s bothering you?” he finally asked.

“Who says anything’s bothering me?” I defended. He raised an eyebrow as he moved a piece. 

“You only play shogi with me when you’re bothered by something.” 

I sighed. He knew me too well. “Fine. I’m nervous about tomorrow.”

“Liar.”

“Says who?”

“Says nine years of experience of dealing with you,” he shot back. I stared at the board.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” I muttered before moving my Silver General. He captured my bishop. I promoted my knight and gave him a level stare. “I’m fine.”

“You always say that, and yet you never are,” he said evenly. “Check.” I sighed, knowing it was just a matter of moves before he ended up capturing my king. Still…

“How would you know?” I countered. “I’m the one learning psychology. And I’m sure that I’m fine.” I moved my king out of check, planning to move one of my pawns to defend it from his bishop. He caught my hand as I pulled it back to force me to look at him. 

“You know that I will help with whatever I can, right?”

“It wouldn’t be too troublesome?” I smirked, pulling my hand free. “I resign. Good game, Shika.”

“You’re avoiding the issue,” he said.

“There is no issue. I can’t play a game with my best friend?” I stared at him. A hint of frustration entered his eyes. 

“I really regret the day you decided to make psychological profiles of everyone in our class,” he complained as we began to reset the board.

“Just the people I like. I’ve always known your buttons, Shika,” I replied, eyes on the pieces. “I just put it down on paper. Can we not do this? I just want to play.”

“... Fine.” I could almost hear the ‘for now’ in his voice. He might pretend to be uncaring and lazy, but he invested in his relationships with people. 

“Ah, shogi,” Shikaku said as he entered the room. “What’s the score?”

“One resignation from me,” I said. “If we play this game all the way through, he’ll have two wins.”

“You underestimate yourself,” Shikaku chuckled. 

“No, I just know that I can’t beat your son.” I rolled my eyes and made the first move. True to my prediction, Shikamaru ended up winning that game. I left after that, knowing that it was getting late for other people. I wandered around Konoha for a while, enjoying the nightlife. 

My parents were long since used to my night wandering. I had started to do it shortly after I turned seven. I could only read so many books while waiting to fall asleep for so long. The first time I went out, Dad had panicked when he looked into my room and realized I wasn’t there. After the whole Hyūga debacle, he thought I had been kidnapped. He found me at a late night ramen stand getting some food. 

I was forbidden after that to leave the house after ten. I reread all of my books, and by the time a week had passed, I was ready to go out again. I was having a fine time up until an Inuzuka, who I was fairly sure had been returning from a mission, suspected that I shouldn’t be out at two in the morning. His dog partner went full floof - it looked like a very big shiba inu - and I couldn’t resist. I was a cat person all the way, but certain dogs were just the best. The moment I went in for petting, he pounced on me and picked me up by my collar. Dad hadn’t been very happy to be roused in the middle of the night to accept his wayward child.

When I was eight, Dad and Mother gave up on keeping me inside at night. Dad had used a regular lock, then a seal when I kept getting out. It took Ino’s complaints that she couldn’t get water or go to the bathroom and the realization that I was climbing out the window to stop that. Finally, they sat me down and worked out an agreement. They understood that I was bored and had wanderlust, but they were very concerned for my safety. If I was to be allowed to roam at night, I had to promise to be careful and be back in time for breakfast. 

It worked for everyone involved.

I watched people slowly filter from the streets and read a new book, until all the businesses were dark, and the only sound was frogs. Checking my watch, I noted that it was now one in the morning. I still wasn’t very tired. I sighed heavily, then hopped down from my perch and began to make my way to one of the many training grounds in Konoha. 

One good thing about the Academy was that its basic training allowed you to pull off ridiculous stunts, at least ridiculous by my previous life’s standard. Once you've tried jumping from one roof to the other, you'll never want to walk again. Especially if you used to play Assassin's Creed.

As far as I knew, no one else visited training ground 23. It suited my purposes just fine, a place to practice my kata and the couple earth jutsu one of my clan members had taught me four months ago. I spent a lot of time here, and it was secluded enough that I wouldn’t bother anyone with whatever I was doing. Within ten minutes, I had worked up a sweat. I had beaten the living daylights out of a practice dummy with everything I knew, and switched consciousnesses with an owl. It was pretty cool, being a bird. I flew around for a bit inspecting Konoha before returning to my body.

I checked my watch again, the blinking face telling me that it was now two eleven in the morning. A yawn told me that it was high time to go to bed. I was nearly asleep on my feet by the time I was locking the front door behind me. I took a deep breath. I suppose that it was part of being a Yamanaka, but the smell of flowers permeated everything. It was nice.

Practically falling into bed, I snuggled into my heavy covers, relaxed, and let sleep claim me.

* * *

 

I wanted to die. Like, right now. “No human being should  _ ever _ have to wake up this early,” I whispered, eyes still half closed with sleep as I sat at the kitchen table. “It is a crime that should be punished by death. A violent, slow death.”

“Don’t be such a drama queen,” Ino snorted. “It’s only seven-thirty.”

“... I will cut your heart out with a spoon if you do not give me a large cup of tea right now.”

“And this is why you don’t have a boyfriend.”

“Then why do you not have one?” I didn’t have to see her to know she was glaring at me. “Waah! Daaddy! Ino’s throwing dishes again!”

When we got to the Academy, we were instantly told to take our seats and given our tests by Mizuki-sensei. I could see Naruto a few rows ahead of me, nearly pulling out his hair.  _ It’s not that hard _ , I mused as I began to fill out questions.  _ Honestly, you just need to have cracked open a book sometime.  _ I ended up finishing my test fairly quickly, and spent the rest of the time poking Shikamaru to make sure he finished his test after double checking my answers. We knew each other so well.

The second part of the test was the taijutsu portion. Iruka-sensei was grading us on this while Mizuki-sensei graded our papers. I hated taijutsu. It was one of the more compelling reasons to become a psychiatrist instead of a ninja. It wasn’t that I was bad at it, it was just… ok, so maybe I was a little bad at it. I was passable. 

Thankfully, I was paired with Ami, so I proceeded to happily beat the crap out of her. She was even worse than I was, desperate to show her ‘feminine side’ to Sasuke. He had yet to notice.

Afterwards, we all had lunch. Sasuke sat as far from everyone else as he could, while Kiba and Naruto tried to entice Shikamaru and I into a game of ninja.

“We’re going to be ninja in a couple hours,” I said slowly, frowning as I absently braided my hair. “Why do you want to play that?”

“ _ Because _ we’re going to be ninja in a couple hours!” Naruto shouted. “After today, we will be adults! We should act like kids while we can!” I stared flatly at him. I seemed to be doing that a lot with him.

“I guess your logic makes sense, but I’m too tired after all that taijutsu,” I complained. Shikamaru grunted in agreement.

“Why are you so lazy?” Kiba whined. Akamaru barked in agreement.

“Because I can be,” I deadpanned. “Now sit down. Just watching you is making me tired.” He groaned and collapsed spread eagle on the ground.

“I hate you both.”

“We hate you too.”

Ino and I were one of the last people to get tested on ninjutsu. I smiled at my sister as she pranced out with her new hitai-ate around her head. “You better not fail,” she grinned. “It’ll be a shame if one twin makes it and the other doesn’t.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” I rolled my eyes as I entered the room, then gave a lazy wave to both my sensei. “Yo.”

“Hello, Inoko-chan,” Mizuki-sensei smiled. Honestly, if I didn’t know what a douchebag this guy was, I never would have guessed. “If you could perform a henge, a kawarimi, and three bunshin.” Oh. This was going to be easy. 

Transforming into my father was easy; I had done it dozens of times before when he was helping me practice. The kawarimi was a bit harder, but switching with objects was something I had been doing around the house for years, much to Mother’s annoyance.

I had always found the bunshin easy, which drove Naruto crazy whenever I tried to help him with it. “It’s too hard!” he had complained once after nearly an hour of attempts. 

“It’s an Academy jutsu for a reason,” I replied patiently. “It’s not too hard.” Closing my eyes and sighing heavily, I continued, “Well, the problem isn’t a lack of effort.”

“I already told you that, dattebayo!”

“Maybe it’s your control?” I mused. “Bunshin are kind of delicate, so if you aren’t careful enough, you fry them.”

“You think that might be what’s happening?” he frowned. “Crap. How do I fix that?”

“More practice~”

“No!”

“Your bunshin?” Iruka-sensei sighed, snapping me back to reality.

“Oh. Right. Heh, sorry about that, Sensei.” I summoned my chakra and twisted it into three bunshin.

“That was satisfactory,” he nodded, then offered me a headband. “Congratulations! You’ve passed.” I whooped and ran out the door, barely pausing to grab it. “Eat that, Kiba!”

“Oh, you did pass,” he said with a toothy grin. 

“Don’t be a pest, dog-breath,” I said, pulling Akamaru off his head and placing him on mine. “It makes you look dumber than you already are.”

“Hey!” I looked around our group, searching for one particular blonde. Even with all my help, had he…?

“Ino, have you seen Naruto?” I asked. She and Sakura were in the middle of a glaring contest. “Earth to Hormonal Girls. Where’s Naruto?”

“Who knows?” Sakura shrugged. “I don’t think he passed, though. He was looking pretty upset.”  _ Frick. _ I had a choice here. Either find Naruto and talk him out of his insanely stupid plan to steal the Forbidden Scroll, or let the plot take its course. Tonight would be very important event for him, but  _ augh I promised myself to derail the plot! _

I felt a finger on my nose. “Hey. What’s up?” Ino retracted her hand, smirking a little. “You had that look on your face. You know, the ‘pondering mighty things’ look.” I waved her hand away, annoyed.

“I’m fine,” I said irritably. “I’m going home. Tell Shika I said bye.” I didn’t give her time to respond before I jumped the wall, forcing myself to not track down Naruto. I was going to go home, take a shower, and work on a new seal I was developing.

“Inoko, is that you?” Dad yelled from his office as I shut the front door behind me.

“Yup,” I responded. The more I thought about it, the better a shower sounded.

“Well, look at you!” Dad was beaming at me from the doorway. “Looks like one of my babies is a genin now.”

“Very observant, Daddy,” I muttered, pulling off my shoes. “Ino got her hitai-ate too, so the elders will be happy.” He gave me a hug.

“Long day?”

“Very.” Dad planted a kiss on my head and began pushing me to the stairs. 

“Go take a shower, sweetheart. Do you want any tea?”

“You know me so well.” After I got out, I wanted nothing more than kiss the person that invented indoor plumbing and hot water. “You are my favorite right now, Daddy,” I said, hugging him from behind. “I almost love you as much as sushi.”

“I’ve moved up then,” Dad smirked. “I have some paperwork to finish. I’ll be done in about an hour.” I brought down my seal work and took a sip of my tea. I had first gotten into seal work after a clan member babysat Ino and me when we were five. He had shown me some basic sealing, and I quickly devoured the knowledge. When you know that sealing is basically the cheat code in this world, it makes sense to learn it. 

The seal I was working on was simple in theory, but complex in practice. Storing water in a paper scroll? Not a fun project. I knew that sealing the elements in scrolls was possible - thanks, anime - but actually doing it was proving to be difficult.  _ Maybe I should have started with my nature. _ That… actually made a lot of sense.

I looked up from my seal and gave the wall a blank look.  _ I need a nap. _ I finished my tea, gathered my papers, then headed upstairs. Screw this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The writing is a bit slow and blah, but I promise it'll get better lol


	3. Lobelia Cardinalis

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow hey I'm so sorry guys, I meant to be posting these ages ago but I got sick, which threw me off, and then I just sort of...... forgot to keep posting. I'll try to be better about this, rip

I woke up shortly after dinner, feeling much better. Despite hearing the voices of my family, I was loathe to get up.  _ I wonder what Naruto’s doing right now _ . Probably plotting on how to get past the Hokage. I couldn’t resist a small smile as I remembered how our friendship began. 

Naruto and I had first met at a late night ramen booth, of all things. I couldn’t sleep and he had woken up from a nightmare hungry, and happened to be at the same ramen booth. He had recognized me from class that day, and plopped down right next to me and started talking. 

“Hey, I know you! You’re from my class! You have some weird name, like…”

“It’s Inoko,” I said, kind of annoyed that he didn’t remember my name despite being in the same class for a couple years, but not surprised. 

“Right, that’s it! You like ramen too?”

“... Naruto, it’s two in the morning. Why are you getting ramen?”

“Because it’s delicious at anytime of day. Why are  _ you _ getting ramen?” he responded petulantly. I blinked.

“Because I don’t sleep until really late, and I get hungry,” I said slowly. 

“Oh. Makes sense to me!” Naruto beamed at me. “What’s your favorite ramen?” And so he went on, following me home to make sure I was ok. By that time, I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to harden my heart to him and his infectious grin. I resigned myself then to the events I just knew I was going to have to go through with him.

Lightly shaking myself of the memory, I rolled over. Then yelped as I hit the ground. I swore under my breath, then threw my covers back on the bed. 

“I hate getting up,” I muttered as I squinted against the light. “If I could sleep forever, I would be happy.”

“You know, I would suggest that you and Shikamaru get married,” Ino said dryly as I trudged down the stairs, “but I would be terrified at how lazy your child would be.”

“Meh,” I shrugged in response. “Don’t tempt me.” She stared at me for a second, trying to tell if I was being serious. “What’s for dinner?” I asked as I shuffled into the kitchen. 

After I finished eating, I joined the rest of my family in the living room. Resting my head on Ino’s shoulder, I cracked open a book I had been meaning to finish for a while. Sakura had loaned it to me, gushing that it was one of the greatest books she had ever read. 

It was a bit mushy for my taste, but not horrible. It didn’t make me want to stab my eyeballs out like the last book she gave me, so that was a plus.

I was finishing the last chapter by the time everyone else went to bed. “I would love to stay up late with you,” Ino yawned, “but I have an early shift at the flower shop in the morning, so I need to go to bed.”

“Ok, have fun,” I replied, giving her a smile. I was still nowhere near tired. I ended up studying some old psychological files that Dad had given me a while back. My hobby, as strange as it was to some people, was to create psych profiles of everyone I interacted with. I had gotten quite good at it. It was both a useful tool and a way to actually use all the knowledge I had gathered in college a lifetime ago. 

I wasn’t sure how long I had been up until I heard the sharp alert of a siren.  _ Annnd that would be Naruto stealing the Forbidden Scroll _ . I knew the drill after a few times. Sure enough, I could hear Dad stirring upstairs. He was pulling on his jacket as he came downstairs.

“Don’t stay up too late, kiddo,” he said as he walked out. Well, now I kind of wanted to stay up all night. But that was irresponsible, and I was a mature adult who could take care of herself.

… Ok, maybe not. But my point stands.

It felt like forever before Dad came home, tired, but relieved. I felt tension I didn’t know was in me bleed out.  _ Naruto is ok. He wouldn’t be that relaxed if he wasn’t. _ I wished that I could ask, but that would lead to all sorts of uncomfortable questions with answers I wasn’t ready to give. And a trip to T&I. Which would not be fun for a variety of reasons.

I followed Dad on the way upstairs, quietly pestering him for information. Thankfully, that wasn’t very odd for me. 

“Can’t say,” he sighed as he reached the landing. “Top secret, you know.” He smiled and tweaked my nose.  I scrunched up my face in annoyance. “Goodnight, Inoko.”

_ Stupid secretive parents. I’ll get the information out of Naruto in the morning. _

“Inoko-chaaaan!” I heard just before being tackled from behind. I was able to make a screeching sound of alarm before I hit the ground.

“What have I said about tackling me from behind,” I asked, my voice muffled by the ground. 

“Right! Sorry about that!” Naruto helped me to my feet and sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. “I was just so excited! I have something really cool to show you! Kage Bunshin!” I blinked as an identical clone appeared. “Cool, huh?” they chorused together. I stared for a few seconds, then turned and kept walking.

“It’s too early for this,” I muttered. “Naruto, we’re getting coffee. My treat.” He whooped and hoisted me over his shoulder. “Naruto!” I screeched. “Put me down! This is why I never get you anything but decaf!”

Another major reason I refused to get him anything aside from decaf, I thought as I watched him, was the fact that he more than made up for it with the amount of cream and sugar he put in it. 

“You have a problem,” I decided, nursing the hot mug. 

“Says you,” he stuck out his tongue.

“By the way, Naruto,” I said. Now was better than ever to ask him what happened. “How did your test go yesterday?” A gloomy look passed over his face. 

“Weeeelll,” he said, dragging it out. “I failed.” I pretended to be surprised and widened my eyes. 

“That sucks.” I said, taking a sip of my coffee.

“But!” Naruto shouted, hitting the table and making me jump. “Iruka-sensei promoted me after I kicked Mizuki-sensei’s butt!”

“... I’m going to need some context.” Naruto went off on a tirade that I absently listened to for the next hour. He left out certain parts - those being top secret jinchuuriki stuff - and instead told me the rest. “Wow,” I finally said. “That sounded pretty dangerous.”

“Oh it was!” he grinned, not losing the chance to brag. “I was totally awesome, way more awesome than Sasuke could have been.”

“Sasuke wouldn’t have stolen the scroll in the first place,” I replied dryly. He growled at me and then ran ahead of me. He was walking backwards, maintaining eye contact as I wandered around the market looking for fruit.

“That’s because he’s a stuck up little -”

“How much for the peaches?” I asked the vendor. 

“Are you even listening?!”

“I’ve heard enough of you guys’ rivalry to know what you’re going to say.”

“Oh, come on!”

“Come on, we’ve got our final class for team assignments.”

“I totally forgot!” Naruto gasped, then he was gone, jumping over rooftops in the rough direction of his house. I stared after him. 

“Universe, if I’m put on his team, I will track down your physical form, and repeatedly punch it in the face.” That being said, I shouldered my bag of fruit and began my walk to the Academy. 

I ran into Sakura and Ino speedily rage walking their way to the Academy. Sparks were shooting between their eyes. I watched them for a couple seconds before announcing my presence. 

“Why are you guys walking like that…?” I asked.

“Oh, hi!” Sakura said cheerfully, hugging me. “What’s in the bag?”

“Peaches,” I said. I lifted it a little in their direction. “You guys want one?”

“Yummy!” Sakura said as Ino frowned and said, “I thought you didn’t like peaches.”

“Apricots,” I corrected. “Those are gross. These are good. Shall we continue?”

When they had their fight - over Sasuke, because why not - I had refused to take sides and did my best to remain friends with Sakura as well. It had worked out pretty well, all things considered. Unfortunately, any cordiality vanished the moment a chance to win Sasuke’s love appeared. I wasn’t quite heartless enough to tell them that he didn’t and would likely never care for them that way. 

I had never been more relieved to see the Academy gates. 

“Morning, Iruka-sensei,” I yawned. “Please save me. Would you like a peach?”

“Good morning,” he said, and touched the top of my head. Ino and Sakura were somehow wordlessly bickering. “Thank you, but no. Go on inside, and please, sit next to Sasuke so the others will pay attention.”

I made a face, but nodded. Everyone was clearly excited, and talking loudly. Naruto - how on earth did he get here before me? - was staring at the door with a hopeful expression on his face. Crap. I really needed to get Sakura to talk to him soon.

“Yo,” I said, waving at him. “How did you get here so fast?”

“I’ll never tell!” he said cheerfully.

“Fine by me. Peach?” I sat next to Sasuke while the others were arguing on who was going to sit next to him. He barely gave me a look. 

“No way, those are gro- Hey!” I glanced up at Naruto, confused. He seemed absolutely horrified. “You… you’ve fallen for his spell too? We were so close! Just one more day!”

“... What are you talking about?” I was so confused.

“Why else would you sit next to a loser like him?”

“... Because Sensei asked me to? So that other girls will actually focus on what he’s saying?”

“Oh. Ok.” Naruto sat on my other side, still glaring at Sasuke.

“Are you guys excited about graduating?” I asked after a few moments of silence.

“Of course!” Naruto shouted. “I gotta graduate before I become Hokage, dattebayo!” Sasuke was characteristically silent, so I elbowed him.

“What was that for?” he asked, annoyed.

“It’s generally polite to respond when someone asks you a question,” I deadpanned. He scoffed softly.

“I don’t really care. It’s just a stepping stone to my goal.”  _ I wonder if I should tell him that he’s not as cool and edgy as he thinks he’s being. _

“Hey, sis,” Ino said sweetly, Sakura looking very annoyed behind her. “Can we switch seats?”

“No,” I said, and placed my head on the desk. I was so tired right now. I really didn’t want to do taijutsu today. 

“Please? I’ll buy you sushi.” Oh, how tempting that was.

“No. I’m on a diet.”

“A diet? You? Since when?”

“Since about ten seconds ago. Leave me alone.”

“Meanie,” she sighed, and walked away. I could almost feel Sasuke’s relief. Naruto stood on the desk and stared at Sasuke’s face.

“What do girls like about you so much?” he demanded. “You’re not that cool.” _ Wait for it… _

“Naruto!” Sakura shouted. “Stop glaring at Sasuke-kun!” Many other girls joined in. Ino seemed a bit torn between telling Sasuke to hit Naruto and not wanting to invoke my glare. I was very protective of my friends, Naruto included. The look insomnia gave me combined with a glare that I perfected in my previous life was useful for scaring people into obeying me, meaning that Sakura had stopped hitting Naruto a while back.

One of the other kids - Tetsu, I think his name was - laughed with one of his friends. “Oh man, that was funny!” He threw his arms behind his head and knocked Naruto forward.  _ There it is. _

I watched impassively as Sakura, Ino, and several others stared in horror. The looks on their faces were almost as good as Naruto and Sasuke’s. They pulled apart, gagging and spitting. Naruto sounded like he was dying. 

“You jerk!” Naruto shouted. “I can’t believe you stole my first kiss! Wait. I feel some kind of immense rage...”

“Naruto~” Sakura said with sweet venom in her voice. She cracked her knuckles as everyone glared at him. “You are so dead.”

“S-Sakura-chan,” he chuckled nervously. “It was an accident, dattebayo.”

“Sure it was,” Fumi growled. They all faltered as I began to grin.

“He said it was an accident,” I said, smiling sweetly, but eyes promising death. Shikamaru affectionately called it my ‘soul eating glare’. “So back off, ladies.”

There was a reason why most of the people in my class both disliked and feared me.

“I could have handled them,” Naruto said as they filtered away.

“We both know that you wouldn’t have touched Sakura,” I rolled my eyes. “Now pay attention to Sensei.”

I was fairly sure Sasuke muttered something along the lines of, “Like you have room to talk”, but I let it slide. Today was team assignments.

I could hear Sakura and Ino debating who was going to be on Sasuke’s team. It was really annoying, because while Sakura was one of my best friends, her voice drove me insane sometimes. “My money’s on Sakura,” I said, thinking of the image of Team Seven’s picture. Ino made a sound that was somewhere between horror and insult.

“Why?” she hissed. I smiled. 

“Because I can see the future,” I deadpanned. She rolled her eyes. 

Iruka-sensei started to lecture us on the duties and responsibilities of a shinobi. It was all stuff I had heard before, from either previous lectures or the elders, so I began to tune it out. It was only a few minutes long, though, and then he began to divide us into teams. I continued to ignore him until I heard a familiar name. “Team Three, Satou Tokaji, Ando Masahiko, and Haruno Sakura.”  _ Wut. _

“Ha!” Ino said triumphantly. “Clearly, I will be on Sasuke-kun’s team!”  _ Nononono this isn’t right. What did I do, what did I change? _ I was lost in my shock until Ino made a shocked screech.

“What did I miss?” I asked, confused at the glares I was getting from the girls. 

“Team Seven,” Iruka-sensei repeated.  _ No.  _ “Uzumaki Naruto.”  _ No.  _ “Uchiha Sasuke.”  _ No! _ “Yamanaka Inoko.” I stared at Sensei for several seconds, then stood.

“Sensei, please excuse me while I throw myself off the Hokage monument.”

“Stop being dramatic and sit down,” he said, rolling his eyes. Naruto was whimpering a little behind me. 

“I’m cursed, I know it, ‘ttebayo.”

“Drama queen,” Sasuke scoffed.

“Both of you shut up,” I muttered, rubbing my forehead. Team Eight came out as expected - Shino, Kiba, and Hinata -, as did Team Ten, my sister’s team.

“I’ll trade you,” Ino said with a note of desperation in her voice. “You like Shikamaru and Chōji more than you like Naruto and Sasuke.”

“If you can convince Sensei, then by all means,” I sighed, but I was inwardly happy that I had been put here. I liked Naruto just fine, and Sasuke was ok when he wasn’t being angsty. But… Ugh. The Plot was such a pain.


	4. Lotus Corniculatus

Jōnin began to show up for their teams. Sakura got an Inuzuka guy. He seemed nice enough, but I could tell just by looking at him that his test was going to be brutal. Kurenai arrived shortly after, practically radiating excitement. Then came Asuma, but that was the end of the people I knew. The room emptied out, leaving the three of us and Iruka-sensei. Eventually, even he left.

“I’m sure that your jōnin sensei just lost track of time,” he assured us before leaving. “I bet that he’ll be here before you know it.”

 _Fat chance_ , I thought an hour later. Naruto had quickly become bored and was messing with everything that could be messed with. The chalkboard fell victim, then some papers that I really hoped weren’t important. He frequently checked the hallway for any sign of our sensei.

“What are you doing?” Sasuke asked exasperatedly as Naruto wedged a chalk eraser between the door and the frame. I could sense a lazily sparking chakra steadily drawing closer. Underneath the calm flow, I felt the tight wire underneath. Who ever it was - and I really wonder who it could possibly be - was prepared for whatever he encountered.

“Revenge!” Naruto grinned. “This is what our sensei gets for being so late!”

“Tch. Idiot.”

“I think it’s a good idea,” I smirked. “Clearly, he doesn’t respect our time, so there’s only one way to teach him a lesson.” Sasuke gave me a look. I grinned back at him. The lightning chakra came closer. Ooh, this was going to be good.

“Our teacher’s a jōnin,” Sasuke said quietly. “An elite ninja. You really think he’d fall for that?”

“I sincerely hope so,” I frowned. “I’ll be really disappointed if he doesn’t.”

The door opened, and our sensei’s hair was covered with white dust as the eraser fell on his head. It was barely noticeable, thanks to its silver color. My mouth curved into a grin as Naruto laughed. Hatake Kakashi looked pretty much like I was expecting. Though seeing him in person did raise one question: What did he put in his hair to make it stick up like that?

“I got him, I got him!” Naruto cheered. Sasuke’s chakra shifted to disbelief.

“Nice shot, Naruto,” I nodded.

Kakashi picked the eraser up from the floor and deliberately placed it on the desk. “Hmm… how can I put this?” he mused, rubbing his masked chin. “My first impression of you guys… Well, I hate you.” Naruto and Sasuke glanced at each other in surprise.

“It was just a joke,” Naruto said quietly.

“Well, we hate you too, Sensei,” I smiled. “Can we all move on with our lives now that you’re here?” I saw a glint of something in his only visible eye - either sadism or approval - but it vanished before I could decide which.

“Hmm. I suppose so.” His eye closed in what I assumed to be a smile. “Let’s meet up on the roof, shall we?” Then he vanished.

“Man, our sensei sucks,” Naruto muttered.

“I don’t know, he’s kind of cute,” I replied. They both gave me a horrified look.

“Who are you and what have you done with Inoko?” Naruto asked suspiciously. “Inoko never thinks guys are cute.”

“Maybe that’s just because all the guys in our class aren’t attractive,” I replied, staring at Sasuke. He almost flinched. I began to make my way up to the roof, ignoring Naruto and Sasuke’s bickering. Kakashi was waiting there for us, leaning casually on the railing. I sat on the nearby stairs and stared at the sky. Naruto and Sasuke sat on either side of me.

“Well, then, let’s get started, shall we?” Kakashi said. “Why don’t you introduce yourselves?” There was silence.

“You guys could try names, likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams for the future,” I suggested from my lying down position. “Things like that. You go first, Sensei, and show us how it’s done.” I sat up and grinned.

“Hmm. Well, my name is Hatake Kakashi,” he drawled. “I have no desire to tell you my likes and dislikes. My dream for the future… Hmm… I can’t say I have one. As for my hobbies… I have lots of hobbies.”

“We didn’t learn anything,” Naruto whispered loudly. As revenge, I guessed from what little I remembered of his personality, Sensei gestured for him to go next.

“Oh! Ok!” Naruto said cheerfully. “I’m Uzumaki Naruto! I like pork ramen, beef ramen, miso ramen, and just about every other kind of ramen! I don’t like the three minute wait time for instant ramen! And I don’t like Sasuke! My hobbies are eating ramen and training! And my dream… is to become the greatest Hokage! I’ll surpass all the others! Then everyone will have to stop disrespecting me and start treating me like I’m somebody!”

“You know, Sasuke, I wonder if he likes ramen,” I said dryly.

“Ok, now for the other blonde,” Sensei replied with a bit too much cheer in his voice.

“I’m Yamanaka Inoko,” I said, blinking slowly. “I like my immediate family, and my few friends, among sleep and various foods. I don’t like people who think they’re better than everyone else because of their experience or family, and I don’t like green beans. I’m an insomniac, so I have lots of hobbies.” I nodded at him after saying that. “One of them is creating psychological profiles for people I interact with often. My dream for the future… hmm… doesn’t really matter right now. Suffice it to say that I want to become more powerful.” I would have to in order to save my father.

Kakashi hummed softly, giving me a look. I stared back until he glanced over to Sasuke, nodding at him.

“My name is Uchiha Sasuke,” he droned. “I hate a lot of things, and I don't particularly like anything. What I have is not a dream, because I will make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan, and kill a certain someone…” I sighed heavily.

“You’re such a drama queen, Sasuke.”

“Shut up, owl.”

“That hurts, Sasuke. Gets me right here.” I tapped over my heart before returning my attention to Kakashi. “What now, Sensei?”

“Well, you’re each unique and you have your own ideas.” He blinked a couple times before continuing. “We’ll have our first mission tomorrow.”

“What kind of mission are we going to have? Are we going to rescue princesses? Or overthrow an evil warlord?” Naruto asked excitedly.

“It’s a task that the four of us will do together,” Kakashi said. I got the distinct impression that he was smirking.

“What what what whaaat?” Naruto pleaded.

“A survival exercise,” Kakashi replied casually. I could almost hear Naruto’s dreams crashing and burning.

“Whaat?” he complained. “We did tons of those in the Academy.”

“This is not like your previous training,” Kakashi sighed.

“What’s the catch?” I asked slowly as Naruto scratched his head beside me. Kakashi cocked his head to the side and pretended to be confused. “There’s always a catch, Sensei. I can promise you that I’m smarter than I look. So what exactly will we be doing?” A bit of a dark aura began to leak out of our new teacher. He began to laugh softly and menacingly.

“What’s so funny?” Naruto whispered to me. “It was a normal question, right?”

“If I tell you the answer, you’re not going to like it~” Kakashi said. A smile crept across my face.

“Try us, Sensei,” I said.

“Well, of the twenty seven kids who graduated from the Academy, only nine will become genin.” Naruto’s eyes widened, and even Sasuke seemed a bit surprised. Determined, but surprised nonetheless. “The other eighteen will be sent back to the Academy. In other words, this is a pass/fail test with an extremely high fail rate of sixty-six percent or more. See? I told you you wouldn’t like it.”

“Then what was that graduation test for, then?” Naruto demanded. “We worked hard to get here!”

“Oh, that? That was just to weed out the completely hopeless, and to select the candidates who _might_ become genin. Or not.” He sounded very nonchalant about the whole matter.

I was liking him more and more.

“Whaaat?!” Naruto gasped.

“Well, that’s how it is,” Sensei smiled. His voice hardened. “ _I_ decide whether you become genin or get sent back to the Academy. Be at Training Ground Three with your complete weapon set at five A.M.” Naruto fumed next to me, and Sasuke’s knuckles were white. I raised my hand.

“Can we go home, now? I’m hungry and drowning in testosterone over here.”

“Hmm… Yes, you’re dismissed. And I just remembered. Don’t eat breakfast tomorrow morning, unless you enjoy throwing up.” He shunshined away, leaving us behind.

“Well, I think he’s a pretty nice guy,” I decided, standing.

“Nice?” Naruto spluttered. “He didn’t tell us anything about himself, he was insanely late, and he’s all around a jerk!”

“I learned quite a bit about him, though. Maybe you weren’t paying attention,” I mused.

“How did you learn anything about him?” Sasuke finally said. “I hate to agree with Naruto, of all people, but he has a point.”

“The fact that he was late can tell us two things: One, he’s either forgetful or irresponsible. Two, he just doesn’t care about being on time.” I held up two fingers. “The fact that he’s a jōnin means that it’s likely the later. He didn’t want to tell us about his likes and dislikes, meaning that it’s likely not for the ears of children, or that he just doesn’t care about life that much. This is backed up by the fact that he doesn’t care about punctuality and the fact that he has no dream for the future. I’d peg his age at around mid-twenties, meaning that he almost certainly fought in the Third War, so probably some kind of trauma in his background as well. If he is in fact in his mid-twenties, then he was just a few years older than us during the Kyuubi attack.” Sasuke was too focused on my words to notice, but I saw Naruto’s slight squirming. “He said that he has lots of hobbies, but didn’t even name one. So again, probably not for the ears of children.” I blinked slowly, allowing the information to sink in. Creating psychological profiles for the past five years meant that I could now make a fairly basic one on the fly.

“If you put that all together, then you find out that our new sensei is almost certainly a man that’s had PTSD since he was our age or younger, has done a lot of things in life that he’s not proud of, and deals with the bad memories with things that could be considered perverted. It’s pretty obvious.” Naruto gaped at me, and Sasuke seemed shocked as well. “... What?”

“It was not obvious!” Naruto shouted. “I never would have seen that in a million years!”

“He’s right,” Sasuke said quietly. “To have extrapolated that amount of information out so so few words…”

“I’ve been doing this for a while,” I laughed nervously. “You remember when Naruto shut the school down for a week with one of his pranks? I spent it making profiles for a good deal of people in the clan. I’ve gotten good at it, I guess.”

“Hey hey hey!” Naruto waved his hand. “Have you made one for me?”

“Nooo,” I said slowly. “After doing Ino and Shikamaru, I decided that adults are much more interesting than children, and don’t bother with them. I’m sure that Sasuke would be an interesting one,” I mused, talking more to myself at this point than anything else. “Anyway! I’m going home now. See you in the morning.” 


	5. Datura Stramonium

“G’mornin’, Inoko,” Naruto yawned the next day. I looked up from the bomb I was making in surprise. “Ugh. It’s too early for any of th- Are you ok?” He frowned at me.

“Yeah, why? Am I bleeding?”

“Your eyes are… How much sleep did you get last night?” I blinked.

“Sleep? Oh, none, I’ve been here since dinner setting up traps. I would be careful out there, I put a large clump of paper bombs somewhere over…” I spun around, frowning. “I don’t remember where I put them, actually. Oh well, I’ll just make more.”

“You have a problem,” Sasuke said flatly.

“Yeah, it’s called insomnia,” I snorted. “Mix it with six cups of coffee, and I have all the time in the world to set up traps!” I laughed and ran a hand through my hair. I pulled out my hair tie and put it back up. “That reminds me!” I pulled another travel mug out of my pack. “Coffee? No? Ok.” I drank half of the cold liquid in one go. “Alright!” I said cheerfully. “I’m ready.” An explosion went off. “That… wasn’t supposed to go off for another couple hours.”

“You have multiple problems,” Sasuke amended. 

“I already knew that, idiot. Bagel?” I didn’t give him the option to accept before taking a bite. “Could use some cream cheese,” I muttered to myself. “I know I brought some…” I rummaged through my bag, confused as I found a cluster of kunai I could have sworn I put in one of my traps. “Did I seriously put the cheese there? Oh well, that’s why I brought the other peaches. You guys want some?”

“Sensei told us not to eat,” Naruto said, confused. “Won’t you get in trouble?”

“It wath a thuggethtion,” I said with a mouthful of bagel. I popped a strawberry in for good measure. Swallowing, I continued, “I’m banking on him not being here for at least another two hours, aaaand that reminds me. Naruto, could you send like three shadow clones to get hot coffee, cream cheese, a history textbook, and four pieces of cardboard? I could also use some chocolate, a tulip, and a cup of coffee.”

“You said coffee twice,” Naruto frowned. 

“Did I? Well, that ought to tell you how badly I need it. Here’s the money, just send off some clones.” He blinked in surprise, glanced at Sasuke, and made the clones. They ran off like the devil himself was chasing them. “Ok, now that that’s taken care of,” I muttered, twirling a lock of hair around. “What was I going to do…?”

I stared blankly into space as Naruto whispered to Sasuke, “She’s kind of scaring me.”

“Right!” I screeched suddenly. “I was going to… wait. That’s not going to work…”

“You said that you’ve been setting up traps, right?” Sasuke said after listening to me mumble to myself for a while. I jerked up and got in his face. He pulled back a little.

“Oh, don’t mind me,” I said, not blinking. I plucked a strand of hair from the duck butt and inspected it. “What were you saying?”

“... Where did you place all of your traps?”

“Hmm, not going to say. Naruto, I need a strand of your hair.”

“Why not?” Naruto demanded as Ducky - I giggled to myself as I thought that - glared at me. 

“Hm? Oh, because of my analysis of Sensei. He’ll likely be too lazy to fight us himself, so I set the traps for you guys.”  _ Will these do? _ I wondered as I compared the hairs. “And if he does fight us himself, then hopefully some of my traps will get him.”

“And if they get us?” Sasuke asked. 

“There’s a reason they taught us kawarimi in the Academy, moron,” I rolled my eyes. “Oh! The clones are back~”

Quickly tearing through the food, I absently watched the boys out of the corner of my eye. They were… wary. On their guard, because I had shown that I was a potential threat. A grin curved the corner of my mouth.  _ This will be good. If I can just make sure that they have enough training during the chūnin exams… No. They’ll not have enough training to deal with him. That won’t happen for a long time. _ I was in a grim mood now. Great.  _ Just focus on passing Kakashi’s test, Inoko.  _

I left the two of them to reset a couple of timed traps, check the triggers on a few others, and set up the last three. When I got back, they were both leaning against the wooden posts, ignoring each other. I stuck the tulip in my ponytail and brushed my bangs out of my face. 

“Why did you want the history book, Inoko?” the other blond on the team asked. 

“You’ll see,” I said slyly. I could have sworn I heard a soft “eep” come from him, but I ignored it. Time passed, and Sensei still didn’t show up. Normally, I would have been using the opportunity to nap, but after all the coffee I had ingested, all I could do was bounce my leg at inhuman speeds while sitting on one of the posts. 

“Morning everyone,” Sensei said. I had felt his approach for a while now, but was too deeply immersed in caffeine to say anything. “Ready for your first day?”

“You’re late!” Naruto shouted in my ear. I jumped, my limbs finally finding the will to move. 

“A black cat crossed my path, you see,” he lied cheerfully. “So I had to take the long way.” The boys stared at him, clearly wondering if he actually thought we believed him. “Well then. Let’s get started.” He pulled an alarm clock out of his bag and placed it on one of the wooden posts. “It’s set to go off at noon,” Sensei explained. “Your assignment is to take these two bells away from me before then.”

“Is negotiation an option?” I asked. If there was one thing I had learned from hanging out with Shikamaru, it was to take the easy way out when possible. Smart-lazy, my mother in a previous life once called it.

“No,” he said, then kept going. “If you can’t get them, then you won’t get lunch. You’ll be tied to one of those posts while I eat your bento in front of you.” He pulled three bentos from his bag and -  _ holy frick on a stick, were those deluxe Akimichi bento boxes?! _ Naruto screeched in horror as Sasuke stared at Kakashi, clearly annoyed.

“Man, am I glad I disregarded that advice!” I said cheerfully. “I offered you guys some food, but you said no!” Turning serious, I gave Sensei a flat stare. “What’s the catch, Sensei? Either you misplaced a bell, or you’re trying to pit us all against each other.” He laughed.

“You’re right, you  _ are _ smarter than you look. This way, at least one of you will be tied to the post, and ultimately disqualified for failing. That one goes back to the Academy.” He jingled the bells. “Then again,” he mused, “all three of you could fail, and go back to the Academy. You can use any weapon at your disposal, any jutsu you know. If you’re not prepared to kill me, you won’t get the bells.”  _ I see, _ I thought, hardening my expression.  _ People hold back when they’re not trying to kill. He’s testing our abilities, and the only way to do that is if we actually are trying to kill him. Clever. He’s a jōnin, so the chances of us actually injuring him are low. _

“You couldn’t even dodge a chalkboard eraser!” Naruto laughed. “We’ll probably end up needing a new sensei if we try to kill you.”

“In this world, those who aren’t skilled enough tend to complain more,” Sensei said. “You can safely ignore them. Lowest scores. Losers.” Naruto growled.

“He’s baiting you, Naruto,” I said quietly. “I have no doubt that he read up on us this morning, or even before we even met him.” 

“When I say start, you can begin,” he continued. My warning evidently fell on deaf ears. Naruto pulled a kunai out of his holster and charged him. Kakashi moved faster than my eyes could keep up.  _ Impressive. _ One of his hands held Naruto’s head, and the other grasped the kunai with Naruto’s hand attached, holding it so the point was directed at the soft spot where skull and spine met. “Don’t be in such a hurry,” Kakashi scolded. “I didn’t say start yet.”

“But ninja are sneaky little tricksters, Sensei,” I mused. “Shouldn’t we attack before the enemy thinks we will?”

“Perhaps. But not today. However, you came at me with the intent to kill, so… how can I say this?”  
“Begin?” I suggested. 

“I’m actually starting to like you guys,” Sensei said with a note of amusement. “Get ready.” I jumped off the post and settled into a stance. “And… start!” Sasuke and I jumped away into the forest.  _ First things first: find a hiding place that I haven’t boobytrapped.  _ It… wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be, though by the flare of annoyance I felt, Sasuke was having a much harder time. I settled into a tree with a basic henge, then sat back and watched the show.

“Ninja must know how to conceal their movements and hide effectively,” Kakashi said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Well, Sasuke and Inoko understand that much… They’ve hidden well.” Then he noticed Naruto standing on the post I had recently vacated. 

“You and me, pal!” Naruto shouted. “Right now, fair and square! Let’s go!” Sensei’s chakra resembled nothing more than ‘is he actually serious’ and a hint of something I figured to be exasperated fondness? That didn’t make much sense… I frowned, trying to remember things from a previous life.  _ I need to sleep, and then mind walk myself.  _

“You know, compared to the others, you’re a little bit… weird,” Kakashi said.

“ _ I’m _ weird?! Have you seen Inoko?!”  _ Wow, Naruto, thanks so much. _ “Stop trying to distract me! The only thing weird here is your hair!”  _ I like his hair… _ Naruto charged him yelling, but pulled back as Sensei reached into his weapons pouch. 

“Shinobi Battle Techniques, part one,” Sensei said casually, pulling his hand out. “Taijutsu.” An orange book came out, open about halfway. It was all I could do to contain my laughs at the look on Naruto’s face. 

“What the…” 

“What’s the matter? Weren’t you going to attack me?” Sensei asked, his eyes glued to the pages. 

“But… I mean, why are you reading that book?!”

“Why? Because I want to find out what happens next, of course. Don’t let it bother you. With your weak attacks, it doesn’t really matter if I’m reading or… whatever.” Naruto screamed.

“I’m going to tear you apart!” he roared. Sensei easily blocked his punch and ducked under his spin kick. He still hadn’t taken his eyes off the book. Naruto punched, but just before his fist connected with Kakashi’s face, the jōnin vanished. “Huh?”

“Ninja shouldn’t let the enemy see your back multiple times, idiot,” Sensei said, crouching behind him.  _ His hands are in a Tiger hand seal, likely meaning that it’s a fire ninjutsu. But he said that he was using taijutsu, so it’s probably something else. Hopefully. Meh, he’ll be fine.  _ “Too late. Leaf Village Ultimate Taijutsu!” I could swear his eye was glinting. “One Thousand Years of Death!” he shouted, shoving his fingers up Naruto’s butt. I snickered. Naruto screeched and jumped away, landing in the water.  _ I hope he washes his hands before eating or anything.  _ “Ok. Where was I?” he said, pulling his book open again. 

Two shuriken shot out from the water as I felt a burst of chakra there as well.  _ Shadow clones? _ I mused as Sensei caught each shuriken on a finger. Naruto crawled out of the water, sputtering and gasping for air.

“What are you doing now?” Sensei sighed. “You’re not going to get lunch if you don’t get a bell.”

“I know!” Naruto snapped. “You told us already!”

“You look pretty wobbly for someone who’s going to ‘surpass the Hokage’,” he continued. 

“I can’t fight if I’m hungry!” he shouted. I popped a strawberry in my mouth. “I just got a bit careless earlier! Man, I’m hungry… but I got to get a bell! I’ll find the strength somehow… I’m going to pass this stupid test of yours, and I’m not going back to the Academy.  _ For the sake of the world, I sincerely hope not. _ “I  _ will  _ become a ninja!” Having said that, shadow clones burst out of the water and ran towards Kakashi. “You were overconfident, Sensei! That’s why you weren’t ready for my favorite jutsu!”

“Your clones may be solid, but you’re still the worst student. You can’t beat me with this jutsu.” That’s about when a Naruto grabbed him from behind.  _ I could probably use the Mind Transfer Jutsu right now, but there’s a risk of hitting one of the clones, and I don’t particularly feel like it right now. Why are they holding down his legs and not grabbing the bells?! _ A final Naruto jumped into the air and pulled back his fist. 

“This is for nailing me in the butt earlier!” he shouted. Then Naruto punched himself.  _ And there’s a kawarimi. Sensei went to the Academy too, you know.  _ But of course, Naruto’s brain went straight to the henge, and all of them began beating each other up until one of them got the bright idea to dispel all of the clones, leaving one Naruto standing.

The glint of a bell caught Naruto’s eye, and mine as well. Well… I could, I suppose, but… nah, that was cheating. On second thought, ninja were supposed to cheat, right?

_ Didn’t I stick a snare trap there…? _ Naruto went bouncing up into the air.  _ I guess I did. _ Sensei lazily approached, leaned down to pick up the bell, and -  _ now! _

I switched with Sensei, scooped up the bell, and stuck it in my bra. “Ha!” I laughed, then kawarimied again with a nearby log. I found another hiding spot and waited.  _ At least it’s not cold, _ I thought as the bell pressed against my skin. 

“Hmm. Not bad,” Sensei sighed. “I guess that Inoko gets lunch, at least. Naruto, think before you use a jutsu. An opponent might use it against you otherwise. Oh, and also… if the bait is obvious, don’t take it. Idiot.” Naruto snarled and writhed around. “A ninja must see through deception.”

“I. Get. It!” he howled. 

“I’m telling you this because you  _ don’t _ get it. You think you get it, which is not the same as actually getting it. Your movements are wasteful. Won’t you ever lea- Agh!” Some of Sasuke’s kunai and shuriken hit him.

“Agh! Sasuke, you killed him! Agh!” Naruto screamed. I had felt the kawarimi, though, so wasn’t too alarmed.  _ Ah, the joys of being reincarnated and being ultrasensitive to chakra. _ ‘Kakashi’ poofed into a burst of smoke and revealed itself to be nothing more than a log. Sasuke began to move. I closed my eyes and focused on the various chakras around me. Sensei was a decent distance away, thankfully. He was also hiding his chakra, but hardly at all.  _ Underestimating me, Sensei? Well, I should probably cut Naruto down then find Sasuke.  _

“Please don’t get caught in such an obvious trap again, Naruto,” I sighed before throwing a kunai. He landed on his head pretty hard. “Ne, Naruto, if you help me defeat Sensei, I’ll share my bento with you. Sound good?” His stomach growled in response. “I’ll take that as a yes. You find Sensei - or better, hold our lunch hostage, and I’ll find Sasuke.”

“Right!” he said. “Thanks for the help, Inoko, I owe you one!” I closed my eyes as he ran off, and focused on Sasuke’s chakra.  _ There.  _ I took off, keeping Sensei and Sasuke in my mental radar and - wait, why were there two Senseis?

… Frick. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looking back over this, there are definitely some things I wish I'd done differently. :/


	6. Verbascum Thapsus

I steered clear of the clone directly in my path and kept going. I stopped behind some bushes when he appeared in my line of vision. Narrowing my eyes, I focused on his chakra, only to discover that it was a normal clone. And now I had lost track of where Sensei was. 

“Inoko. Behind you.”

“Frick on a stick!” I shouted, lashing out with a fist. He vanished, and chakra coated my senses, dulling my reaction.  _ No. Not again. Not again! _ A memory of when I was still a baby forced its way up and I was  _ drowning in burning red chakra, scared and helpless and oh god where was I why was I so small oh please god no. _

“Kai!” I snarled, slamming my hands together. “Screw you, Sensei!” I shouted. “I hate genjutsu…” I could sense Sensei now, and his chakra was the equivalent of my ‘wut’ face. “Where is that obnoxious duck boy?” I wondered, making my way over. 

It took me a while to track him down, due to the repeated genjutsu that Sensei’s clone kept hitting me with. They were steadily more and more subtle and complex, and it was taking me a little bit longer each time to shake them off. I was feeling particularly murderous by the time I arrived at the clearing where I could feel Sasuke’s chakra. “Where is he?” I thought out loud. “I know he’s around here somewhere.” He was getting steadily more annoyed. 

“Inoko,” he finally said. I looked down to see him buried up to his neck in the ground. 

“Pfft.” I couldn’t contain myself. By the time I had my laughter under control, at least five minutes had passed. “Looks like someone got caught by the Headhunter jutsu,” I teased, crouching in front of him.

“Get me out of here!” he snarled.

“Not until you say please~” Sasuke kept glaring, then looked away.

“Please get me out of here,” he muttered.

“Of course,” I bowed gallantly, then used an earth jutsu to pull him out. “Now, duck boy, what is your oh so brilliant mind telling you?”

“I’ve got to get a bell before lunch,” he muttered, ignoring me. “That doesn’t leave much time.” Then he glanced at my chest. I’d be offended if it weren’t for the fact that I knew he was looking at the bell.

“If you’re planning on reaching down my bra, you’ve got another think coming.”

“Tch. Like I need your bell. A while ago, I touched the remaining bell. I can take it the next time. Unlike you, I’m strong enough to take the bell.” I shrugged.

“I’m a lazy person by nature, Sasuke. I take what I can get when I can get it. If you aren’t willing to do that, then maybe you should just give up and try again next year.” Sasuke glared at me, but something about it was different. I met his gaze, blinking slowly. He looked away and I felt his chakra darkening.  _ Cue dramatic wind. _

“I’m the only one who can kill that man,” he whispered. It sounded like he was trying to convince himself as well. “I am an avenger. That means I must be stronger than my prey. I need this training; there’s no time for setbacks.”

“While I’m sure that’s true, the timer is going to go off any minute now, so you might want to work on getting that bell,” I drawled, shoving my hands in my pockets and walking past him. The ringing of the alarm centered me. “Well, what do you know? There it is. Come on, Sasuke.” 

As it turned out, Naruto heeded my advice when I suggested taking the lunches hostage. Unfortunately, Sensei caught him and tied him to the middle post. I burst out laughing when I saw him.

“Sorry about the crappy advice, Naruto,” I said, poking him in the cheek. “But I got a bell, so that works out.” His stomach growled at me, and Sasuke’s responded. I could feel my own tightening.

“Uh-oh, stomachs are growling,” Sensei said with folded arms. “That’s… too bad. Oh, and by the way, about this exercise… Well, I’ve decided that there’s no need to go back to the Academy.” Naruto gasped with delight and Sasuke smirked. I merely lay against one of the posts and blinked. There was something about Kakashi-sensei’s chakra that I didn’t quite trust. 

“That- that- that means that all three of us…!” Naruto grinned, wriggling in his ropes. 

“Yes!” Sensei smiled as if he were talking to young children. “All three of you must quit being ninja.” Silence fell across the clearing.

“... That’s a little harsh, Sensei,” I said after several seconds. “Care to explain your reasoning?”

“Fail?!” Naruto panicked next to me. “What do you mean? I mean, you said that if we can’t take the bells, we’ll be sent back to the Academy, but Inoko got a bell and you’re failing her too?!”

“Because not one of you think like shinobi; you think like little kids,” he said lazily. “Like brats.” Sasuke shot past us, attempting to stab Sensei. 

“That’s a bad idea,” I called after him, but by that point it was too late. Sensei threw him to the ground and sat on his back, one foot on his head and twisting his arm behind him. 

“You think it’s all about you,” Sensei explained, completely serious now. “You don’t know what it means to be a ninja, you think it’s a game! Why do you think we put you on squads?! Did you consider that question for one second?”

“This is why I shouldn’t stay up all night,” I muttered, smacking my forehead. “I miss the big picture. You were trying to force us to work together by making it impossible to take a bell by ourselves. I only got one because you weren’t anticipating a kawarimi. I’m sure that you would have stopped me in a second if you wanted to.”

“Now you get it,” he said sarcastically. “The answer to this pass/fail test is teamwork!”

I looked away from his cold stare, embarrassed.  _ Why didn’t I think of that? Crap, I know that Shikamaru would have noticed that much. He’s going to rub this in my face later, I just know it. _

Sensei sighed heavily. “Well, it seems that you guys understand my point, at least. I’ll give you one more chance after lunch. However, Naruto doesn’t get any because he tried to steal the lunches.” He met our eyes, one by one. “You have half an hour.”

Kakashi vanished. I could still sense him hovering around the clearing, waiting to see what we would do. If he was truly expecting me to obey him though, he had another think coming. Honestly, he couldn’t have been more obvious if he had tried. Just finished telling us about how our test was about teamwork and looking out for your team, and then he tells us to leave Naruto to starve?

Haha, yeah, no. 

“Sasuke, how fast can you eat two thirds of your bento?” I asked out of the corner of my mouth. He frowned at me.

“Why?”

“If we each eat two thirds of our bento, that will leave Naruto two thirds.”

“Sensei said not to feed him,” Sasuke pointed out, glancing at him.

“Yeah, I know. I think this is another test. Break the rules in favor of teamwork or abandon teamwork in order to stick to the rules.” I scanned the treeline for any sign of Kakashi. “Naruto, I’m going to cut your ropes and give you the rest of my bento, ok? Sasuke and I will do our best to keep Kakashi-sensei off your back while you refuel. I know all those clones must have taken a lot out of you, and you haven’t eaten since last night.”

I glanced at them, barely waiting for their nods. 

“What if this is a trap?” Sasuke asked, shovelling his portion in his mouth.

“Then we all go out fighting. Together. Like shinobi.” 

Naruto was grinning from ear to ear, and I knew that even if I had damned us, I wouldn’t regret my choice. 

“Are you guys ready?” I murmured, touching the handle of a kunai.

“Hell yeah!” Naruto shouted. Sasuke and I both glared at him as he visibly cringed. “Sorry.”

“Now,” I hissed, slicing his ropes. Naruto had barely taken the bento from me when Sensei dropped in front of us with a smoke bomb for added effect.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he said with sickening sweetness, a small dose of killing intent in the air.

“Naruto, scram!” I shouted, not taking my eyes off Sensei for a second. Sasuke was right beside me, holding out a kunai between him and Sensei. As if that would stop him from killing us in a heartbeat. 

“You broke the rules,” Kakashi observed, a glint in his eye that I didn’t like at all. 

“The way I see it, I’m going down either way,” I snapped, “and I’d rather go down with my team than alone.”

“Hm, I see. And does little Sasuke-kun feel the same way?” I caught Sasuke glancing at me from the corner of my eye before he briefly nodded. “Hm. Well, you know what this means.” 

He began to form handsigns. I didn’t recognize the jutsu, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to stand here and let him finish it. I mean, how dumb would I have to be to do that?

I put my hands up into the infamous Yamanaka seal and threw my soul forward. He didn’t even move.

Being in someone else’s body was… strange, to say the least. No matter how many times I did it, it felt so awkward. Kakashi-sensei was about three and a half inches taller than I had been in my previous life, but after living in a much smaller body for twelve years, I had gotten used to being short.  _ Ne, Sensei, were you expecting this? _ I said in the now shared mindspace. 

I yanked the bell off my new belt and threw it at Sasuke. He caught it with ease.

“Sasuke, track down Naruto and give that to him!” I shouted. The deeper voice threw me off a little, but it was nothing I wasn’t used to. 

“Inoko!” Naruto shouted, bursting from the trees to hover over my limp body. “Oh my gosh, are you ok? Inoko!”

“I’m fine,” I said with amusement. Naruto stopped panicking over my body and looked up. 

“What! Did you…?”

“Yes, Naruto, I threw my soul out of my body and took control of our sensei’s body,” I rolled my eyes. “What do you think I do in my training time, read porn like our beloved sensei?”

“But... You’re a girl.”

“I’m so glad that you’ve noticed that, Naruto.”

“And you’re in a guy’s body.” I froze. 

“Oh, sweet frick on a stick!” I screeched, hopping around. “Oh, gross, gross, gross! This is so gross! How do you guys stand this?!” I demanded just before releasing the jutsu.

“It’s so gross,” I whined back in my own body.

“I think I’ve been violated on a personal level,” Sensei muttered under his breath. 

I pulled the bell from my bra and gave it to Naruto. Sasuke still had the other one in his hand. 

“Gross! Boob bell!” Naruto wailed. I stuck it down his shirt and laughed as he writhed. “But Inoko, if you have the bell, then you can’t pass!”

“Don’t care,” I shrugged with a small smile. “You’re going to be Hokage, and Sasuke has angsty things to do. Me? I’d rather be a psychiatrist. So, therefore, you two are the ones that should have the bells.” Naruto looked at his bell, then at Sasuke’s. I could feel Sensei’s gaze on us, quietly assessing. 

“And here I thought owls were supposed to be wise,” Sasuke said, dropping his bell in the remnants of my lunch. I screeched in horror as I dove for it.

“You do not defile an Akimichi deluxe bento with a filthy bell that you have no idea where it’s been! This one’s yours now, Sasuke. I’m taking what’s left of your bento as penance.” Sensei began to laugh. 

“What’s so funny?” Naruto demanded.

“Oh, nothing,” Sensei said with a dorky eye smile. “Only that… you passed~” We all stopped and stared at him. “The point of this test is to put the team above yourself, no matter what. I think that you three have shown that pretty well in the past few minutes.”

“Nobody cares about your stupid test anymore, Sensei,” I deadpanned. “I want to finish my freaking food.”

“In a minute, in a minute,” he said, walking towards the memorial stone. “Did you three take a look at this? The names engraved on this stone are all shinobi who are honored as village heroes.”

“That’s it!” Naruto said cheerfully. “I’ve decided that I wanna have my name engraved on there too!”

“No, you wouldn’t like that,” I said softly, placing the bento on the ground beside me. “These are a special kind of hero.” 

“Why would I not like that?” he demanded.

“Because those are the names of shinobi that have been killed in action.” The elevated mood quickly vanished. “My aunt is on here. She was killed on a mission when I was six.” I still remembered how hard my mother cried that day. I walked up next to Sensei and gently touched her name. “I wouldn’t doubt that you all have precious people here as well.”

“This is a memorial stone,” Sensei agreed. “The names of my closest friends are on here. People die on missions because their teammates didn’t try hard enough. Because they didn’t work together. Let this be a lesson to you. Those who break the rules are trash, but those who abandon their friends are even worse trash.”

“Wise words,” I hummed. I dropped my hand and looked up at Kakashi. “Well, Sensei? What now?”

“Well, you all pass!” he said cheerfully. “Squad Seven starts its first mission day after tomorrow!”

“Sounds good to me,” I shrugged, picking up my pack. As Naruto sang out his victory to the world, I gently shoved Sensei. “I don’t know who you lost, but I don’t think that we’ll go the same way.” I gave him a flat look. “That was then, and this is now. Leave the past in the past. Try to remember that.”  _ Well, it’s a start on repairing the utter mess that is Hatake Kakashi _ , I thought, feeling his gaze bore into my back.  _ Too much? Maybe. But he’ll learn soon enough that I’m not your average kid. _

I chose roughly that moment to crash from sleep deprivation. Because I was an idiot that didn’t think she needed sleep. Fun.

The last thing I thought before falling asleep was how blue the sky was that day.

_10/26_ _Bell test. Uchiha Sasuke: performed as expected. Demonstrated the Uchiha Grand Fireball jutsu and adequate taijutsu. Dislikes teamwork and his teammates. He seems to feel that they’ll hold him back. He mentioned during our first meeting that he wished to ‘kill a certain someone’. Suspect he spoke of his brother._

_ Uzumaki Naruto: performed as expected. Headstrong with no regard for his own safety. Demonstrated the kage bunshin and barely adequate taijutsu. Dislikes Sasuke strongly and seems unsure of Inoko. Has ambition to become Hokage. Strong fondness of ramen. Seems slightly stupid. _

_ Yamanaka Inoko: did not have sufficient opportunity to observe abilities. Hid during entire exercise, only appearing to steal a bell bait for a trap and at the end. Used signature Mind Transfer jutsu against me to give remaining bell to Sasuke. Gave bell she had stolen to Naruto, claiming that she wanted to be a psychiatrist. Stayed up night before to set up traps, strongly suspect insomnia. Strong sensitivity to genjutsu, being able to identify when she was under and break them. Appears to be fond of teammates, but didn’t realize the point of exercise until prompted.  _

_ All three passed. Will test Inoko’s knowledge further.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double update both to help catch up and apologize for taking so long :D

**Author's Note:**

> So after hearing about AO3 and reading some stuff on it for like ever, I'm finally sharing my FanFiction stories on here. Hope you enjoy! I'll update this one every other day, I think, until it's caught up with my other account. Hope you enjoy!


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